A codice fiscale is a must. It means you are registered in the labour market as a taxpayer. Then you can apply for a Partita IVA. The rules state that you cannot have a partita IVA but work predominately for one company - so if you're thinking of working for a school be very carefull that you are not breaking the law. Many schools force you to follow this approach, but your lack of knowledge of Italian law will not exempt you from prosecution.

If you have an IVA, the current 'regime minimi' is the best bet. It means you don't have to collect IVA (you don't add it to invoices) and don't need to do a quarterly vat return. You'll be totally stumped when it comes to the annual tax return - even Italians don't know how to fill the damn things in - and will almost certainly need to pay an accountant to do the return for you. It's the best profession to be in - accounting for small businessmen - because the laws appear to have been written to ensure you will make a mistake. The fine that follows would be called unfair anywhere else in Europe.

I can echo a large part of Brian’s post. It’s important to get a good handle on taxes and how they work – the percentages involved are much higher and you’ll need to build up a cushion of cash to cover VAT payments and your tax bill (which you won’t know until the last moment, a few weeks before you have to pay).If you want a basic idea of how much you need to budget for, and how much will actually be left in your pocket, there’s a good guide here: http://www.tjtaylor.net/english/teaching-taxationThere are also some other FAQs we put together to help teachers new to Italy, for example on contracts, visas, and things to look out for.Hope they help!Alex